Anyone impart some wisdom?

spokes quite often break at their neck – presumably the theory is that SP have no weakest region & so may be less likely to break ?

I wondered the same when i got my hoops, I went for the normal ones in the end as it was a new design and i've not heard of many people using them, If the normal hubs are fine why improve?

I've not broke a spoke yet mind *touch wood*

Yeah, SP is Straight Pull, like the DT hubs in a traversee. Supposed to be stronger since it takes away the bend. Though it can be a wee bit trickier to replace a spoke, since without the J they can rotate in the hub instead of tightening up. Not brain surgery to get round that though. I think the hub itself is identical, ie, annoyingly noisy and only light because of the alloy freehub body.

The downside is that less places carry straight pull spokes.

I've broken a few spokes & its always been at the bend, so if you do away with the bend they should be less likely to break.